Because We Fall- Even If We Fight
by Saplilpat
Summary: A twist on My Candy Love including all possible love interests and maybe even those who aren't datable in the game. I have no real vision for where this is going. I fly by the seat of my pants for every update. I don't know who Lily will end up with in the end so we will have to see where the story leads her. Suggestions are welcome but there is no guarantee that I will use them.
1. Chapter 1: Meeting Lily

**I have finally gone back, edited, and added new chapters. I have no doubt that I have still missed some mistakes, but it should be a bit better all the same. I am still really unused the process of editing and adding chapters. Writing author's notes doesn't usually happen because I always forget you can't add them after posting a chapter without editing the document you uploaded and then replacing the chapter you posted. BAH! you know how it works! In any case I'm sure you will notice the concept of commas and periods and what not in relation to dialogue still alludes me after all these years. GR! The frustration! **

**LASTLY I would really appreciate any comments or feedback you have for me. I am trying to sharpen up my writing skills after having abandoned it for several years for essay writing of all things. BLECK! As many people on this site, it is difficult to find the drive to continue writing a story when it doesn't appear that people are interested. By the same token, as a person who didn't have an account until recently, I didn't often bother to comment. After being on the receiving end of comments or the lack thereof, I realized I should comment more often. **

**ANYWHO... Without further ado, here is my official first FanFic (with the exception of the other fanfic I wrote and posted at the same time...) I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

_Okay...I need...I need—paper! and...a note book...wait—no—_

"_What the hell_. Uhg! It's too early for this garbage." Lily mumbled to herself as she rummaged through her belongings. She'd only been in her apartment a couple of days and it was already like World War One took up residence on her bedroom floor.

"I need pens and pencils and probably my text books…" she continued musing as she shoved her books inside her floppy faux leather bag. She spent many months looking for such a bag and has taken it everywhere since she found it. Her mother once had a black leather one with dark multi-colored patches on it, it was homely, but in a cute sort of way—boho chic perhaps?

Her alarm started bleeping at her, but she ignored it as she nervously tried to find clothes quickly while deciding what to eat for breakfast.

"No. That looks ridiculous," she said to her reflection taking off the shirt she had just put on, "Maybe...This one! I could have toast... No. That's not enough. No," she took off another shirt that didn't suit her.

"Ooo! I _really_ don't want to do this... I _hate_ meeting new people," she groaned as she went to inspect another overflowing suitcase she had yet to unpack.

"Oh forget it!" She stripped off the clothes she had put on and threw them on the ground, picking up an old pair of worn out white shorts with pink sport stripes on the sides and a hideous white tank top off the floor she had been wearing around the house yesterday. She put on her ridiculous, but comfortable and probably dirty clothes from the day before and put on the slippers she got for Christmas which were also ridiculous and dirty, but comfortable. She hated pink. She also hated hearts, which evidently were on her slippers.

"Oh, SHUT UP!" She yelled at her alarm clock as it beeped louder and more rapidly. She stomped over to the clock and turned it off angrily. She would have forcibly removed the batteries, but then she would have to put them back in later and reset the time…far too much work.

Normally she wouldn't bother with an alarm clock because she had an obnoxious internal one that wouldn't let her sleep in even if she wanted to, but she didn't want to take the risk of it malfunctioning on her first day at this new high school she was to attend for the next almost two years.

The school year was already half a month in. It was more than a little awkward and intimidating, to say the least, to be entering a new school now—new classes. _Uhg… I'm going to be so far behind. What if I can't catch up?_ She thought with a frown rubbing her forehead and chewing her lip. _Mother of..._ She heaved a big sigh. _Whatever._

She grabbed a grey hoodie off a chair to stave off the chill outside and slipped it on with unusual grace. She settled on an apple for breakfast as she headed out the door. It was far too early to get to school, but just in case...

She bit into the apple as she descended the stairs from her apartment and grimaced, chewing on the waxy paper-like skin in disgust and triple checking her mental list of necessary items...


	2. Chapter 2: First Introductions

_Sweet Amouris High...Really?_ She thought as she looked up at the disturbingly bright blue school before her. It wasn't _too _bad looking, a little plain perhaps, but then that often defined school itself.

She tossed her apple core into a nearby trash can with a curled lip_. Last time_ I _eat an apple without peeling it. _She shivered in disgust.

Wandering up to what seemed like the main entrance as she took in her surroundings she noticed it was uncomfortably quiet. _Creepy_, she noted as she pulled on the doors. _What the..._ She pulled again.

"Wha—how _early _am I?" She murmured in disbelief, pulling out her cell to check the time, "Shit."

5:00 am.

She looked down at her cell for a whole minute having exhaustion, frustration, and panic wash over her like spray from a passing truck in the rain. She groaned up at the sky_. Now what am I supposed to do?_

She heaved a sigh and plunked herself down on a bench in the courtyard, legs spread like a man, arms limp on the bench seat some distance from her sides—the picture of a true lady surely.

Lily let her head fall back so she could look up at the sky pleadingly as if some god or deity or some such thing would suddenly bark out laughing, "HAHA! We joke! We joke!" and allow her to stop feeling like the idiot rat who plays along with the obnoxious scientist's cheese wheel tests and mazes.

She glanced down at her phone once again. _Stupid_

It was some time before she heard the clicking of heals and snapped her head in the direction of the sound, effectively bringing her out of her daze. A stout old woman bustled her way through the courtyard towards the main doors, keys jangling in her hand.

Lily made to call out for her attention, but stopped when she remembered it was unlikely she would hear her. Her voice never carried. Maybe it was the _tone_ of her voice...She sighed again for what felt like the thousandth time and pushed herself up from the bench and awkwardly made her way over to the old woman.

As the old lady fiddled with her keys to unlock the door Lily stood a little ways behind her scratching her head and chewing her lip hoping she would be noticed without having to say something and startle her. Lily shuffled her feet a bit uncomfortably and gave up.

"Um...'scuse me..." Lily said quietly leaning forward a bit and peaking to the side of the old lady, a blush heating her cheeks. The old lady unlatched the door and smoothed out her rose colored suit jacket. "Um...H-" Lily cut her words as the old lady shuffled inside without so much as glancing in Lily's direction.

Lily rolled her eyes, "Yep," She said sardonically letting the 'p' pop for emphasis. She saw that coming.

Luckily the old lady noticed her shortly thereafter when Lily followed her into the school.

She looked shocked for a fraction of a minute before she approached Lily with a sweet smile which with her grey hair fastened neatly in a bun on the top of her head made her seem grandmotherly.

"You must be our new student. Ms. Vallen, am I right?" She asked brightly.

Lily gave a half nod half bow in response, a terse smile clinging weakly to her face. She mentally face palmed herself for her inability to not be socially challenged with strangers.

"Lily. Uh, Lily Enyana Vallen. Ma'am." She clarified quickly, irritated by the sound of her own meek voice.

"And what a lovely name, dear. As Principle here I welcome you to Sweet Amouris High School, Lily. I hope you'll feel at home quickly at your new school," she continued, "I would suggest you go see Nathaniel, our student body president. He will help you complete your registration," she motioned behind her with a curt hand, "He should be in the student council room later. Good luck, dear." And she walked off without another word.

Lily found the student council room nearby and empty so she decided to go in search of her classrooms while she waited for this "Nathaniel" to arrive. The rooms seemed pretty ordinary: old desks, stiff plastic chairs, and a white board, cramped, but not stuffy, though certainly a bit uncomfortable.

When she finished her lonely self-guided tour of her classrooms, she headed back to the student council room in the hopes that the student body president was there.

She poked her head into the classroom and saw a guy about her age, "Oh, h-hi," she said weakly as she stepped into the room, "Um, I'm looking for a Nathaniel? The student body president? The principal sent me."

He turned around and smiled kindly. _Oh, no!_ Lily quickly looked to the ground a light blush forming on her cheeks as she offered a small shy respectful smile in return_. He's really attractive,_ she thought in a panic as her heart fluttered. _Darn it!_ She started picking at her fingers self-consciously—nervously. She sighed internally _God I hate this_.

"That's me! You must be the new student. What can I do for you?" He asked in an equally attractive voice.

_shit_.

Lily did her best to swallow her irrational discomfort and embarrassment, "Oh, good. She said you could help me with my enrolment …?" Her voice came out stronger and louder than she expected but she couldn't resist twisting her hands awkwardly in front of her. Her expression somewhere unpleasantly between a pleading smile and a grimace. _Stop it!_ She chastised herself.

"Sure, I'll take a look." He said as kindly as before and turned around to shuffle through some papers.

Lily started chewing on her lip again and couldn't resist taking at peak at what he was doing, feeling uncomfortable with nothing to do and not sure if she should speak or not. However, her eyes had a mind of their own as they wandered over Nathaniel rather than what he was doing. She looked away feeling guilty, but ended up glancing at him several more times.

He had such a kind face, but when he was focusing...the thoughtful determined look on his face_...He's very attractive_, she thought again taking in his Shaggy, but tidy blonde hair, the sharp angles of his face, straight nose, slight (_welcoming_) fullness of his lips... She shook her head and looked away. He had nice hands too, clean and gentle-looking, though still masculine. He had broad shoulders and a good posture. He seemed fit, but it was hard for Lily to see with his button up white shirt and blue tie. He had a bit of quirk to him with the pens in his chest pocket, adding a bit of nerdalicious charm. She was tempted, but endeavoured to keep some decency and didn't venture any lower with her eyes.

She was glad he didn't seem bothered by her shyness or awkwardness or at least that he made an effort not to show that he was. She began fiddling with the hair of her stylized angled bob when she realized she had a large rat's nest knot at the back of her head. At the same time Nathaniel came back over to her with a calm expression and handed the papers to Lily.

She did her best to anxiously smooth down the mess at the back of her head with discretion and took the papers from his hand, aiming to not let their fingers grace each other. She smiled more confidently at him as she took them, pretending that her heart wasn't beating too fast for comfort, but her smile faltered slightly when her façade cause her to do the very thing she was aiming to avoid.

Their fingers slid against each other as the papers switched hands. His eyes flicked to hers and hers flicked away before meeting his again like nothing happened. "Thanks." She said shortly giving an honestly thankful smile for his efforts.

He smiled back, though he looked stunned for a moment, a subtle blush reaching his cheeks she thought she saw.

"No problem. But..." He said hesitantly. "It looks like a few things are missing here. Let's see..." He came to stand beside her and look over her shoulder at the paper he had just given her.

She stiffened slightly and made her breathing as quite as possible, making sure to breathe through her nose and not her mouth, focused on keeping her hand and body steady, and ignore the very inviting heat coming off his body. She felt the overwhelming need to swallow a suddenly suspect mouthful of her saliva, but resisted the urge for fear of the awful sound it would make. His shoulder brushed hers as he pointed to a spot on the paper and her cheeks flushed as she grew warm with embarrassment. She almost took a sharp intake of breath, but she controlled it.

"You still need a photo for your ID and $25 for your registration fee," he said turning towards her as he spoke causing her to glance in his direction at her shoulder. His closeness as they both turned their heads caused his breath to tickle her neck. The shiver that went down her spine she couldn't control. Her eyes widened.

"You okay?"

_He _would _notice_.

"Just a tickle," she said with a nervous laugh as she shook her head.

He seemed to blush at that too she thought, but maybe not. He stepped back a bit and crossed his arms. Lily gave an internal sigh of relief as she got her space back.

"You also need to get one of the forms signed by your parents, which is the most important," he said looking a bit awkward but nevertheless friendly.

Taken aback by the last bit Lily was able to forget her discomfort as she asked confusedly, "I checked everything myself. _Obsessively_. Are you sure?" somehow not sounding rude.

"Just in case, I'll check to make sure your form didn't get put in another file. In the mean time you take care of your ID and registration fee."

Lily nodded.

"Well anyway, it was nice meeting you. It's good to have a new student here that's serious!" He said with a slight chuckle, waving as he made to leave.

"Oh. Uh, thanks. You too..." She waved him good bye as he left while she stood there wondering if that was actually a compliment.

_Is he always that nice?_

_..._

_Probably just doing his job._

Lily shrugged and left the room thinking back on how strange his eyes were, gorgeous, but strange..._Oh, get over it_.


	3. Chapter 3: Sarcastic Shit

Lily had noticed a dollar shop earlier near the school and decided she would get her ID picture there before classes started rather than wander the halls aimlessly.

That was the plan at least, but she ended up running into a sort of friend from her old school in the hallway. _Kentin_.

Kentin had apparently transferred just to be in the same school as Lily. It was an endearing notion and a bit comforting having someone around that she already knew and could trust. At the same time it was a little awkward because she knew he had feelings for her that she couldn't return. She wanted to. But she couldn't. The thought made her feel shallow and guilty, but she couldn't force herself to be attracted to him.

Even as a friend he could sometimes be hard to tolerate. It was possible he had ADD, he was always so hyper active and scatterbrained…and socially awkward.

It took her several minutes to actually leave the building the way he kept rambling on sweetly. She spoke with him kindly until he ran out of things to say and ask, not wanting to offend him.

She was in a rush by the time he left to do other things and was concerned she wouldn't have enough time to get to the shop and back before classes began. In her haste she managed to trip into someone as her slipper came off her foot.

"Who the..." A guy growled angrily turning to glare at Lily.

Lily's eyes widened as her cheeks flushed once again. "Sorry!" She squeaked.

Clumsily she shoved her foot back in her slipper and stuttered a couple steps back, never taking her eyes from the pavement.

"W' the hell happened to you?" He said, amusement coloring his surprisingly warm voice.

Confused, Lily looked up with her mouth ajar, "Huh?"

With a smirk he laughed once.

"Wu'd you do? _Roll_ to school? Did you even _blink_ at a mirror?" His voice dripped with sarcasm.

Lily frowned in irritation, then she remembered—

Her hand shot to her hair and her eyes grew large. She face-palmed her forehead as she scrunched up her face, wishing she was anywhere else. She groaned in her head.

She sighed letting her hands fall back to her sides.

"Not really. No," she said blandly. "Just outa bed," she continued, smirking with bitter humour.

"The mirror and I...had a..._disagreement_," she said dismissively, twirling her hand at her wrist musedly.

The guy smirked. He studied her for a moment before giving another short laugh. Lily was resigned to her fate as a lost cause by now, his laughter merely making her want to roll her eyes.

"I take it you're the new one?" He stated more than asked.

She gave a stiff smile and opened her arms by way of answer. _Yep_.

He was... well he was honest at least. Rude about it. But honest.

His hair was dyed a rich deep red which seemed to work for him though Lily wasn't a big fan of red hair, on guys anyway. He didn't have much tan to his skin and he seemed a bit thin. He had long hands she noticed and stereotypical clothes of a rebellious rocker: band T, old jeans, black jacket. His eyes also seemed odd, but they were hard to see and she tried to avoid eye contact.

"Castiel."

"What?" She said, being interrupted from her thoughts.

"My name," he said with another smirk.

_Maybe it's…_stuck _there…_

"Oh." She deadpanned.

He seemed to look around expectantly for a while as they stood there awkwardly in silence.

He cleared his throat, "So..."

"So, what?" Lily said, goading him because she could, because she was numb from embarrassment.

"Uh. Nothing," he said almost looking like he might be disappointed.

"Well, I'm gunna go get my ID taken care of," she said as she started backing away.

His smirk returned.

"You might wanna do something about _that_ first," he said pointing at Lily from head to toe.

Lily's numbness faded and a fresh wave of humiliation washed over her. She laughed nervously as she scratched her head, "Yah, I guess. It's too late to get it done now anyway."

"Just do it at lunch or something. See ya 'round," he said raising his hand in goodbye as he began to walk away.

He was several feet away when she called out to him, surprised that it was actually relatively loud, "Lily!"

"_What_?" He called back, turning to face her from across the courtyard.

"My name! Lily!"

He smiled. Not smirked. _Smiled_. He gave a short nod with his hands in his pockets and walked away.

Lily watched him go; her own smile perched crookedly on her face. _He's alright_.


	4. Chapter 4: Bitches be Bitches

Her first few classes were pretty dull; math was beyond confusing so when the clock finally ticked its way to lunch hour Lily was itching for a break. Not to mention the embarrassment of introductions at the beginning of every class. That certainly gave her stamina a run for its money. She couldn't remember a time in her life she had so continuously blushed. She was certain all the flushing was going to run her into a fever.

_I probably looked like an exhausted sweaty wreck from the depths of loser land by now_.

Lily yawned as she left her math class. Her arms felt leadened with the weight of her books, heading to her locker at a sluggish pace.

"You alright?" A chimey voice asked.

Lily looked up to see a cheery ginger girl dressed in slouchy colorful clothes smiling at her sympathetically. Lily blinked at her a few times. "Yah. Fine. Tired. I look like hell, I know." She replied honestly.

"You do look a bit rough," she stated plainly somehow not sounding insulting. "Here, let me help you," she offered taking Lily's books from her hands before she could protest.

Lily blushed. "You don't have to do that. I got it," Lily said reaching for her books.

The friendly red headed girl avoided her playfully, "Don't be silly. How are you going to open your locker carrying all of these?"

Lily sighed, "Well I'm going to have to figure it out somehow. There won't always be someone around to come to my rescue," she said offering a small friendly smile.

"Well, not today you don't. I'm Iris by the way." She said with a warm smile sidling up next to Lily and nudging her wth her elbow.

_The hell_. Lily smiled back awkwardly not enjoying having her personal space invaded for a second time today.

"Thanks, Iris. I'm Lily."

Lily stopped walking suddenly nudging her head at the lockers, "This is me."

After Iris helped Lily pile in her books she wished her good luck and meandered off bouncily into the crowd of people that filled the hallway.

_That was nice. Very friendly_,she thought closing her locker and heading out for the dollar store with a swing in her step.

She had an elated smile on her face, that is, until she tripped.

She landed hard, barely preventing her face from greeting the floor. Her heart lurched for that moment her eyes frightened and angry, a gasp escaping her lips. She heard laughter behind her and she turned to the sound with angry disbelief.

Forcing herself up from the ground she stood facing a group of three girls: a tall blonde busty gloating girl at the point, a snobbish Asian and an arrogant looking brunette behind her. She squinted at them with her mouth slightly ajar, _the fuck? Are you stupid? _clearly painted on her face. They continued to laugh, unphased.

Lily dusted herself off and scoffed shaking her head as she turned to do what she doing before she was so rudely 'interrupted'.

"Hey, new girl! I'm not done with you!" She said grabbing Lily by the arm and forcibly turning her back around.

Lily glowered.

"Let go." She said firmly.

The blonde ignored her.

"There are some things you need to learn first you disgusting little pig. Look at you." She said with a look of revolt.

"One you do as I say, and two stay away from Nathaniel." She continued tightening her grip on Lily's arm.

Lily looked down at her arm still glowering and yanked it out of her grasp.

"Grow up." She scoffed, rolling her eyes.

Before she could make to leave again the blonde bitch slapped her so hard her head turned. Gasps echoed around the hallway as people stopped to gawk at the spectacle.

Lily's hands twitched at her sides as she slowly turned her head in carefully controlled fury too stare her down, her cheeks flushed, "Do not. Do that again." Her voice barely quivering, growing deep and level with anger.

The three girls looked shocked for a fraction of a minute as the rest of the crowed looked away nervously before the blonde one started laughing again. A frown replaced her mirth as she made to slap her again, but Lily caught her wrist. Her laughter suddenly died, the whole hallway becoming a sea of wide eyes. Lily pulled her closer so they were almost nose to nose.

Looking up into her eyes, but seeming to look down on her, Lily's voice grew darker still, "I said. Do not. Do that again." She threw the blonde girl's arm away from her with force after briefly putting painful pressure on her wrist.

"Don't test me." She warned as she finally walked away ignoring the stares that followed her.

As she stepped outside she heard that red head guy from earlier applauding her making some comment about fire, but Lily held up her hand to silence him as she walked past him without even a glance. _Not now_, she thought angrily keeping a steady threatening pace. She had just reached the school gates when the bell rang signalling the end of the break.

"_FUCK!_" She shouted throwing her arms up before sighing dejectedly and heading back towards the school.

She ran into that red head guy again on her way in.

"Why don't you ditch and go get it done now? I'll come with you to make sure you actually get there this time." He offered.

Lily didn't even hesitate, "On my first day here? I'm already behind."

"Yah, so what's another day?" He pressured.

"No."

"Well, when's your study block?" He continued, not giving up for some reason.

Lily sighed tired of the entire day, "After this next class. I guess I can go then. I was going to use it to get help with math, but I guess not."

"Great." He smiled. "I'll pick you up outside your class. Where you at?"

Lily ignored the slight irritation at his odd sort of pushiness and told him where her class was before rushing to her next class.


	5. Chapter 5: Getting ID'd

Study block seemed to arrive out of nowhere as lily buried herself in her studies, elated that her English class actually had a creative writing component. She was still working on a poem when a pair of hands grabbed her shoulders making her jump.

The owner of those hands laughed.

"Why so jumpy, spitfire? I've been waiting in the hall for hours, let's go." Castiel, who evidently decided it was a good a idea to scare the living day lights out of her, complained as he came to stand in front of her with his arms crossed.

Lily raised a brow at him with her head tilted to the side sarcastically, "I highly doubt you could call it _hours_. I was in the middle of writing a poem."

"A poem, eh? Lemme see." He said as he reached for her notebook.

Lily slammed her hand onto her book to stop him from taking it. "NO! No no no no no. It's—it's not done. Y—you won't like it. It's weird. Besides you said you wanted to go, so let's go."

He held his hands up in surrender, "Alright. Let's go."

As Lily reached for her bag Castiel snatched her notebook off her desk and started reading it.

"Wai-" Lily began to protest, but was cut off by Castiel as he started to read her poem out loud.

"The heart does tick in painful strokes, counting out the years gone black. From forgotten memories—"

"Castiel!"

"Hidden under dusty sheets. Set lose when sleepy lids—"

"Cas-"

"Flutter shut."

Lily gave up and crossed her arms moodily, as he continued.

"They scatter like spiders, hide and re-emerge. Earth spins toward tomorrows, but the nights remain salted with tears that tap, tap, tap to the ticking of the clock." He finished and looked up with an indiscernible look on his face.

"_Heavy._"

Lily rolled her eyes with a sigh, ignoring the blush she felt warm her cheeks. "Are you happy now? Can we go?"

He tossed her notebook back to her with a smirk, "Yah. Wouldn't want you to run out of time again."

She frowned at him, not sure if he was mocking her poem or referring to earlier, and walked out of the classroom with Castiel close behind.

They walked in silence for a while. Lily pretended not to notice Castiel's frequent glances and other's who seemed to take interest in her walking with him.

In the courtyard she spotted Nathaniel and waved to him shyly. He smiled back at her warmly, but it vanished as his eyes strayed to Castiel. She looked over to Castiel to see he was frowning at Nathaniel. She watched confused as Nathaniel glowered back and walked away.

"What was that about?" She asked Castiel.

"Nothing. He's just a prick."

"Nathaniel!? What makes you think that? I found him incredible. I-incredibly nice!"

Castiel scoffed. "That's 'cause you're a girl. It's his game. Don't tell me you've already fallen for our precious prez."

"I- What do you mean it's his game?"

"You won't even deny it!" He said angrily. "I thought you might be different. Guess I was wrong." He shook his head in disgust and began walking away. "Don't come crying to me when he breaks your heart!"

"What? You don't even _know_ me! I don't really even know _him_ either. _OR_ you! What's your _problem_?" She yelled after him, irritated at him for being angry with her for no reason.

He stormed back to her and got in her face as he forcefully pointed back at the school, "My problem is that he—"

Sighing he dropped his arm, "Never mind. Just get your ID, the block'l be over soon."

_What is with this guy?_ Lily thought as she followed him the rest of the way to the dollar shop. _He's warning me about _Nathaniel _when _he's _the one who almost _bit _my head off for _no _reason_. _What a loonytoon_.

In the shop the stout old Asian salesman set up the station rather quickly for Lily's picture to be taken.

"Wait," Castiel halted the salesman as he approached Lily in the middle of the station. "Here," he said to her as he tucked some hair behind her ear and moved her bangs.

Lily blushed and looked down shyly as one of his fingers graced her ear. She blushed even harder when he tilted her head up with a finger under her chin. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest.

She looked up at him unsure. He took his eyes off her hair and glanced at her at eyes and paused.

He blushed with a bashful smile upon seeing her uncertain eyes and rosy cheeks. Lily smiled back equally bashful.

*click*

Startled by the sudden sound and flash of light they pulled away from each other.

The salesman started clapping happily at the polaroid he just took.

"Oh, you two look good 'gether! So _cute _too!"

"Oh. No we're not—"

"She's not my—"

"_Nonsense._ I won' say anyting. You make good coupol." The salesman smiled at them as he put Castiel's and Lily's hands together with the picture.

Lily and Castiel glance at each other with wide eyes and flushed cheeks.

"Um, Sir we're not—" Lily began to clarify.

"Shh, Shh. Shoo now young man, let da lady get her Poto ID."

Lily shot Castiel an apologetic look as he stepped out of the way. He merely shrugged.

The salesman, who introduced himself as Sam, ended up not charging Lily for either photo and winked as he promised to keep their "secret".

On the way back to school Lily broke the awkward silence that had settled between them.

"Uh, did you…want this?" She asked offering the picture she had been uncomfortably carrying.

He glanced at it and did a double take before replying. "Uh. You keep it."

"Um, 'kay..." She reluctantly put it in her bag and dropped the subject, walking the rest of the way with nothing but the sounds of their footsteps and the occasional passing car.

_Things just keep getting better_, she thought sarcastically.


	6. Chapter 6: The Dreams Begin

Lily lay in bed that night staring at the ceiling. She watched as the popcorn bumps created an illusion of movement, making the world _feel_ like it was spinning the way they say it does. She let that swaying, spiny feeling envelop her; let her mind imagine that it was her mother rocking her. She felt the encroaching darkness that was sleep start to numb her mind and she welcomed it. But just as her mind had almost gone blank, faces and images began swimming into view.

Golden eyes, red hair. A smile… Before she knew it she was reflecting on her day. Kind handsome Nathaniel who made her heart beat too quickly. His smile was beautiful. His eyes were like the warm glow from a burning candle, her own eyes feeling drawn to them much like a moth would be. Even in her sleepy mind's eye, the fuzzy memory brought a blush and a smile to her face.

Just as sleep took her a different image appeared from the shadows. Unconsciously her hand went to her chest as she curled up on her side biting her lip.


	7. Chapter 7: Odd Behaviour

Lily walked to school the next day in a daze, like her mind was trying to be somewhere other than the present and it frustrated her. Part of her wanted to focus, the other part wanted get this THING back that was nagging at the edges of her mind.

She frowned and rubbed her forehead as she walked through the school's front doors. She threw open her locker—

"_OW!_"

Lily gasped and quickly shut her locker realising she had just hit someone with it. She turned to the person she hit who was on the floor and began apologising over and over. It wasn't until she bent down to help her victim up that she realised she knew the person.

"Ken!" She exclaimed in pleasant surprise. Instead of helping him up she threw her arms around him in a gracious hug. "What are you doing here so early?"

Ken blushed furiously with a big goofy grin on his face. "Lily!" He said equally pleased as he clumsily returned her hug.

Lily pulled back from the hug just enough to smile down at him until it suddenly dawned on her how horribly wrong and compromising their current arrangement could be. In hind sight she was glad the school was currently quite empty. She cleared her throat and stood up before offering him a hand up. He took her hand gratefully and stood up in front of her, his head only coming up to her chin.

He continued smiling at her contently as Lily began to feel the awkwardness of too long unplanned silence. She took a deep breath before smiling back at him and preparing to break the uncomfortable quiet, but before she got a word out Ken had sprung forward and wrapped his arms around her waist in a surprisingly strong hug, mumbling excited incoherent somethings into her chest.

Lily chuckled patting his back affectionately, "I can't understand a word you're saying, Kentin."

He pulled back just enough so that he could make eye contact and said, "I am so happy I ran into you! I tried to find you yesterday after school and I couldn't. So I came early hoping to find you and here you are!" He smiled brightly once more before burying his face in her chest again without being perverted about it.

Lily froze before suddenly prying Kentin off her and holding him at arm's length. She blinked at him a few times with a blank look on her face as Kentin began to look worried.

"So…That means you're really staying then? I mean- at the school. You'll be attending Sweet Amouris?" She asked him seriously.

Kentin looked down sheepishly and shuffled his feet, "Y-yes..."

She beamed just as big as Kentin had and hugged him two times bigger. "THANK GOD! You cannot imagine how happy I am to have someone here that I already know and trust. I wish you had found me yesterday. It was hell. I could've used you're company." She stated earnestly, pulling back to look at his goofy grinning face. "You're the BEST!" She proclaimed as she chastely kissed him on the cheek.

His whole face grew red and he began shuffling his feet as he started stuttering, but Lily didn't hear him as she turned to collect her things from her locker asking if he had completed his registration. Before she got a response she heard her name being called and peaked around Kentin to see who it was. Unfortunately for Kentin it was the principal and Lily took off with a sweet brief, 'see ya!'

As she met with the principal it suddenly hit her how bizzar behaviour had been with Kentin. She knew she would regret it later. He already didn't understand that she wasn't interested in him as more than a friend and she just gave him a _reason_ to be confused.

She sighed_. What was I _thinking_? _ _And why on _earth _was I so happy to see him? _

Lily scratched her head before shaking off her thoughts in frustration. She'd take his awkward nerdiness over the crap yesterday any day. _I'm just craving the familiar. That's all._


	8. Chapter 8: Rumours

During her study block Lily found herself using it again for things other than studying. She began wondering if the block shouldn't be called task block instead of study block as she seemed to be sent on an errand of sorts every time she had one.

Instead of getting her ID, now they wanted her to pick, join, AND help out one of the school clubs. A tall order if you asked her, especially since there wasn't much to choose from so late into the semester.

Her options were basketball or gardening. On the one hand she would like to keep active since she will no longer be able to take dance classes and she didn't mind basketball at all, but she usually refrained from physical activity at school…On the other hand she wouldn't mind learning something new and she'd been hearing whispers of how nice and easy going the leader of the gardening club is.

As she pondered over her options she followed the map on the back of her planner to the courtyard which was supposed to lead to both clubs.

She turned to head towards the gardening club when she started hearing an abnormal amount of whispering. She looked up when she heard someone nearby whisper rather loudly, "isn't that her? The one over there with the beanie."

Lily felt her head, noting that she was in fact wearing a beanie. She looked around for others who might be wearing one, but she appeared to be the only one.

_Shit,_ she thought as she realised there were already rumours about her. She groaned with a huff and put away her planner, unamusedly determined to go and find out what nonsense was being spread about her. She made it exactly two steps towards the girls who pointed out her beanie before she heard her name being called from behind her.

She turned to see a very irritated looking Castiel dragging a scared looking Kentin behind him. Lily watched thoroughly confused and a little irritated herself as she watched Castiel approach her. She stepped to meet him, a demand at her lips, but before she could even begin to express her fury at treating her friend that way Castiel shoved Kentin at her and crossed his arms.

"What the _fuck_ were you thinking?" He demanded angrily.

Lily glowered over Kentin's shoulder as she checked that he was alright, "What the fuck am _I_ thinking? What are YOU thinking? Who the hell do you think you are that you can drag someone around like that?" She countered just as angrily.

"Don't play all high and mighty with me or has Nathaniel rubbed off on you that much already! What is THIS?!" He yelled as he threw a magazine at her.

Lily just barely caught it before it fell. She let Kentin go and pushed him behind her as she peered down at the magazine. Her eyes widened. _No… Can't be…_she thought as she took off her bag and started rummaging through it. She felt around and came up empty. _Where is it…._She thought in frustration as she dropped to her knees and started searching more frantically through every pocket. _Where the FUCK is it?_

"_Shit!"_ She cursed as she tossed her bag at the ground and sat moodily on the ground. She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. Snatching her bag off the ground she pushed herself up.

Her mind elsewhere Lily didn't really register Kentin taking the magazine from her hands. It wasn't until she heard sniffling behind her that she realised she wasn't holding the magazine any more.

"Y-you…He-h-he…Do you…l-l-love himm?" Kentin stuttered through his sniffling as he looked at her with even blurrier eyes than his round strong prescription glasses usually gave him.

Lily felt her heart break for him. She knew how much he cared about her. If she was honest with herself she knew how much he _loved_ her far beyond friendship—it was hard not to… She gazed at him in concern trying to convey through her face that the story wasn't true. He didn't seem to get the message as he began to sob. Thick tears slid down his cheeks before he took off running.

"Ken! WAIT!" She called after him in desperation, but he kept going, pushing past wide eyed gossipers as he went.

It wasn't until that moment that she realised exactly how many people there were standing and watching the spectacle. She didn't care. The only thing that mattered at that moment was Kentin. The only friend she had in this new town. The only person who was always there for her, she just let get crushed by a rumour she unwittingly had a hand in.

Castiel cleared his throat causing Lily to tear her gaze away from where Kentin had disappeared.

"I'm sorry," She whispered in response.

Castiel scoffed irritably and then sighed, "I'm going to assume the story wasn't your idea then."

She looked at him taken aback, "_No!_ Of course not!"

"So… I take it you aren't dating him either…?"

She drew her brow together, "No. Though I know that he likes me as…more than a friend…"

"And the picture….?"

"I don't know…" She said with a sigh.

"I assumed…I don't know what I thought. For what it's worth…" He said to the ground as he turned away, "I—sorry." He let slip over his shoulder.

"Yah…" She responded absent mindedly as she slowly began walk towards the gym, "Me too…"


	9. Chapter 9: Sweet Support

The rest of the day continued in as much of a daze as it started with, but for very different reasons.

She ended up joining the basket ball club and met some exchange student named Dijon or something. He had her do small odd tasks. Collect basketballs, buy water, look for his necklace…He was kind of a jerk. But she didn't really care at the time. Her mind still focused on Kentin. She had no way to contact him, to apologize, nothing. She didn't even know where he lived.

As she was packing up her things she was suddenly struck with idea to ask Nathaniel for Kentin's address, he did have access to the students' files after all.

She made her way over to over to the student council room, not really sure how to ask for information he probably wasn't supposed to give out. As she reached the door an irritating voice she wished she could forget halted her.

"What do you think you're doing?" The valley girl voice accusingly asked her.

Lily sighed and ignored her, reaching to open the door. The same bitch from yesterday grabbed her shoulder and forced her to turn around.

Lily ground her teeth and took a deep breath, before looking up at the blonde bitch.

"You _deaf_ or something? I thought I told you—"

"What's going on here?"

The girl's face was priceless. But just as quickly as it had turned to horror, it changed to a sickeningly sweet expression.

"_Nathaniel_! I am _so_ happy you're here. My new friend here was upset so I was trying to console her," she said as she affectionately wrapped her arm over Lily's shoulders offering her a disturbing pout of false concern.

Lily stared at her out of the corner of her eye with a mixture of disgust and surprise. She leaned away from the other girl's body as much as she could, not enjoying her personal space being invaded yet again, and least of all by her.

Nathaniel approached Lily, causing the other girl to step away. "Are you alright?" He asked sincerely.

Lily shook off the rest of the bitch's embrace in frustration and took a step away from her before she replied.

"Actually, I was coming to find you, when this _lovely_ friend of yours" she smiled at the girl with equally false affection, "stopped me. If you have a moment I still have something to ask you." She motioned with her head to the student council room.

"Of course," he smiled. "I'll see you at home, Amber." He added to the blonde with a short nod of his head.

Lily followed him into the student council room, but not before she caught Amber sweetly gesturing to her behind Nathaniel's back that she was going to kill her. Lily rolled her eyes and shut the door behind her.


	10. Chapter 10: Making & Keeping Firends

"You want to tell me what's going on between you and my sister?" Nathaniel asked as soon as they were alone, crossing his arms.

Lily blinked at him, "That bitch it your _sister_?!"

Nathaniel turned his head pinching the bridge of his nose at same time Lily realized what she said, covering her mouth in a gasp.

"I'm so sorry! I—what I meant was I can't believe you two are related," Nathaniel still looked irritated, "I—I mean you seem so much more mature than her. I thought for sure she had a crush on you and was bullying me because she thought I was a threat. Or—"

Nathaniel suddenly looked up at her with a look of surprise, "She's been bullying you?"

"I thought that was obvious…I figured everyone had heard about our '_meeting'_ yesterday."

"W—what are you talking about?" He said confused, a blush across his cheeks clearly evident.

Lily's usual discomfort talking to people she doesn't know started to settle in again, "I—She…was going on about how I'll do whatever she says and that I was to stay away from you," Nathaniel went back to pinching the bridge of his nose, "I tried to brush her off…so she slapped me."

"She _what!?" _He said in disbelief, clearly angry.

Lily flinched at his reaction and took a step back which didn't go unnoticed. Nathaniel took a step forward.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you," he apologized stepping closer to her so that he could hesitantly place a hand on her should, "I had not heard. Again, I'm sorry. I'll make this up to you somehow. I promise."

Lily's heart pounded in her chest, the hand on her shoulder seemed scalding hot and she could feel the warmth spread through her body. With her breath feeling short she forced herself to speak.

"You don't owe me anything. It wasn't your fault."

Nathaniel stepped back again looking guilty and embarrassed, "I was really mean to her when we were kids. So it _is_ sort of my fault if she is mean to others." He spoke to his feet.

Lily remembered then, "Well…if it makes you feel better, I have a favor to ask? We can call it even if you'll help me." She suggested meekly.

"Oh. I forgot. You had something you wanted to talk to me about." He said by way of encouraging her to continue.

Lily took a deep breath remembering what she was here for and how important it was, "I need the home address of a student here. He's—"

"No."

Lily blinked, "You haven't even let me finish."

Nathaniel took his own deep breath straightening his shoulders, "I can't. I'm not allowed to give out private information. Surely you knew this already."

Lily walked up to him desperately urging him to reconsider, "I figured you weren't allowed to, but I was hoping you would make an exception just once. This is really important. I don't know if you saw the magazine going around the school today, but what it said really hurt my friend. None of the article was true, but still. He's really sensitive and he's the only friend I have here. He took off in the middle of the day crying and I have no way to contact him to apologize. Please. I don't want to lose him." She looked up at him with pleading eyes, praying that he would see reason.

Nathaniel sighed after several long moments of silence scrutinizing the girl in front of him and her request.

He shook his head mumbling something as he turned around and walked over to a filing cabinet. Lily watched him hopefully, crossing all her fingers mentally.

Nathaniel walked back a small piece of paper held up between two fingers, "If you lose this, or abuse it, or if _anyone_ finds out I did this…it will _not_ be pretty." He said sternly and somewhat reluctantly.

Lily hardly listened to his warning as she rushed towards him grabbing the paper and the hand that held it.

"Thank you so much! You don't know how much this means to me. You won't regret it!" she smiled clasping both her hands over his in gratitude, distantly aware of how nice his hand felt in hers, before taking the paper and rushing to leave.

"And Lily!" She froze at the door to look back at Nathaniel, "I still owe you." He smirked.

Lily paused considering what he said before settling on a thankful smile and shaking her head as she left to find Kentin.


End file.
